Times when online-shops were boring and unattractive are over. To attract customers' attention designers tend to design online-shops according to the atmosphere it has to create. An online-store in which retro-products are offered is designed in a retro-look. And shops which are aiming to attract young customers are designed in vibrant colors and modern style. Furthermore, interactive browsing through the store, implemented with Flash and JavaScript, gains on popularity as well.
This post showcases 45 examples of creative and unusual designs of online-stores. Being creative doesn't necessarily mean that the designs are successful since unconventional approaches often increase the time users need to climb the learning curve and figure out how they can achieve their goals. Still, how can you present your products in a distinctive way and how to design a truly unique online-store? Let's find out.
Trendy design elements such as wood background, textures, handwriting, collage and grunge are quite popular. Reflections, shadows and similar elements from the times of vivid Web 2.0 are used rarely; however, designers of t-shirt- and children's cloth-stores seem to have a different opinion on that matter for some reason. Disclaimer: we are not related to any of the stores presented below.
Please notice: we don't know if creative design approaches result in better sales. This post is supposed to provide you with some interesting ideas and approaches which you can use in your future projects, not with recommendations for the most effective online-store-designs.
Showcase Of Creative Online-Shops
ShopComposition
ShopComposition uses a sliding navigation at the top of the site. Users can choose the content they would like to read. This store has an integrated blog and some further projects (such as picture-a-day) to attract customer’s attention. JavaScript in use.
Feel the Power
Actually, Feel the Power sells t-shirts and underwear — just like thousands of other online-stores out there. However, the site is completely Flash-based and offers its visitors a beautiful and attractive navigation via an animated wheel. One click opens a large preview of the selected product. Although Flash is used, the navigation is extremely easy and simple. Apparently, music in the background is supposed to create a good mood.
Yellowood
If a company produces Yellowood wood decks, then it probably should have a yellow design with wood in the background, right?
uShops
uShops welcomes its visitors with a price tag which is supposed to communicate the idea of the site — the online marketplace to buy and sell stuff.
Free People
This store aims at female teenagers. In such stores handwriting and vivid imagery are common.
Nerve
Nerve is an Ajax-based music store with vibrant colors, nifty JavaScript-effects and beuatiful hover effects. Nice and memorable design.
Bisley Perfect Order
This store is partly Flash-based and is designed in a retro-look. The main page is right-aligned for some reason. On the left there is a wood background with a coin.
Klassiker in Acryl
Simple Treasures
Habitat Shoes
Habitat Shoes sells shoes. However, it first sets up the perfect atmosphere for the store and offers its visitors to select one of the illustrations which stand for the different accessoires in the store.
ShoeGuru
ShoeGuru places its products in the middle of the page and uses horizontal scrolling for navigation. Notice that only the product is presented to the visitors — and nothing else.
Accentuate Clothing
Cosmicsoda
Cosmic Soda sells t-shirts and uses distinctive design decisions to attract its target group. The search box and newsletter box are somehow crooked, there are dozens of dashed lines, blue illustrations and a paper sheet background.
Etsy
Among dozes of distinctive features Etsy has an appealing navigation menu with icons and vibrant illustrations. The creative approach of the design is hidden in its functionality. For instance, it is possible to sort and filter products by colors. It is not done via a text-based search engine, but using the integrated interactive Flash-interface.
Threadless
TasteBook
Loworks
LadyBugs Picnic
LadyBugs Picnic with feminine touch, handwritten elements and, of course, bugs!
Martique
Mozilla Store
A distinctive fan-shop for geeks and nerds.
PodShop
Rock Pillars
Rotofugi
Chop Shop
Pink Koi Fish
Akachanwear
In this store the choice of illustrations directly indicates what the store is about.
Axid
A better tomorrow
Baby Wit
The design seems to be hand-drawn and incomplete which somehow fits to the items the store sells - baby clothes and accessoires. The design perfectly fits to the atmosphere it needs to create.
Dirty Coast
Fox Cubs
Holly Hue
Jacobi Jayne
Kidsmodern
Lekmer
General Robots
Service is good for you
Sound Provisions
Soïa & Kyo
Teetonic
Wavehouse Shop
Trendy Tadpole
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